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Reducing a casual employee's shifts amounted to a dismissal, and denying her an opportunity to respond to the decision rendered it harsh, unjust and unreasonable, the Fair Work Commission has found.

The employer was wrong to think it could dismiss the employee without warning, and its reason was neither valid nor fairly executed, Deputy President Lyndall Dean said.

The pharmacist had been a casual employee of The Henty & The Rock Pharmacy Partnership for more than a year when, in September 2025, the employer informed her it was cutting her regular five shifts per fortnight to just one three-hour shift on every second Saturday.

This was because it had found a part-time pharmacist qualified to administer vaccines – a certification the employee lacked...